Lani Garver is the new kid in town. He's described as tall, thin, tan-skinned and having dark, chocolate-colored eyes. The strangest thing about Lani's appearance is that upon first glance, it's almost impossible to tell whether he's a boy or a girl. He wears his hair long and sleek, curled under at the bottom. His gorgeous eyes appear to be lined, and his lips appear juicy. He speaks in a high-pitched, effeminate voice, has limp wrists and delicate gestures that leaves everyone automatically assuming that he's gay. For his part, Lani does nothing to dispel these rumors. He's painfully vague about everything from his gender to his age, refusing to be labeled or put in a "box." Although Lani seems to have come out of nowhere, he seems to know everyone - or something about everyone - with whom he comes in contact. After spending a lifetime in libraries to escape the bullies outside, Lani is well read on human psychology and can pinpoint tiny eccentricities about a person by simply glancing their way. Lani uses his knowledge to deflect the pain of years of abuse, from both his parents and his classmates. On Hackett Island, nothing is different: Lani is immediately isolated, ostracized, and tormented for being different, yet Lani refuses to back down to the bullies. He even encourages their abuse by talking back to them, teasing them, and when absolutely necessary, physically attacking them. One bully in town, Tony Clementi, takes a particular interest in Lani because he's a closeted homosexual himself. Rather than admitting his own sexuality, Tony torments and abuses Lani, desperately afraid that if he doesn't, someone will discover the truth about him. At the end of the novel, Tony hangs Lani in a fishing net and threatens to drown him in the sea if he doesn't grovel at his feet. Lani refuses and disappears into the dark, icy water. Although various people dive in and try to save him, no body is ever discovered, leaving the reader, and the entire town of Hackett to question, what happened to Lani Garver?
